I just started trying to brew my own beer in Houston Texas. I got a Mr. Beer Long Play IPA and it said to do the initial step for 3 weeks at 65-72 degrees Fahrenheit. The issue is we live in Texas and the ambient temperature where I store the beer is 81 degrees. Do I store it longer or shorter than the recommended 3 weeks due to the different temperature?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Depending on the yeast strain, you may need to keep your fermenter in a laundry tub with water and ice or frozen water bottles to control the temperature for the first few days. There are a few yeast strains that are fine to allow temperatures in the 80’s, but those are exceptions to the rule.
Welcome to the forum and good luck with your brewing!
The temperature recommendation is to get the yeast to ferment without leaving behind unwanted esters (fruity tastes) and fusels alcohols (undesirable alcohols). The time can’t be adjusted to fix that. You need to find a way to adjust temperature down if you can.
You can turn down the A/C and put it next to an A/C vent. You can also put in a bathtub with a 1/2” OG water and a T-shirt over it (like its wearing the T-shirt). Let the T-shirt hang into the water. The T-shirt will wick up water which will evaporate to provide a cooling effect.
- formerly alestateyall.
Each strain of yeast has a recommended temperature range. If the beer is fermented at the high end, of outside the range, many yeast strains will produce flavor compounds that may be undesirable.
With the exception of some Belgian styles and saisons, most Ale yeast will perform as expected in the mid 60’s to 70 degree range.
If your house temperature is in the 80’s, it would help to find a way to keep the fermenter cool.
If it is the Mr. Beer small plastic fermenter, you could keep it in a cooler with water and ice.
Time is not a huge factor in the temps you are asking about. Most ales will finish in a week to 10 days.
Time is not what you want to manipulate, but temp is. Keep it cool(er).
I agree with the other brewers. Time is not your enemy, but rather temperature is. You can also try wrapping your fermenter in a towel and place it on a cookie sheet. Then, pour water on the towel to soak it. Then use a fan to blow air into the fermenter. This should lower the temperature about 10* depending on the relative humidity. Either way, it should help. You will need to keep the towel wet, so check it frequently.
I would also suggest sticking a thermometer through the wet towel so it contacts the fermenter. This way you can monitor your temperature. The beer temperature will naturally rise during fermentation. If your ambient is in the low 80’s, the fermentation temperature could easily raise to the high 80’s or low 90’s and that could spell trouble.
Good luck, I hope this information helps!
Thanks for the input. What if it’s already been stored in the 80 degree temperature for 8 days? Is it too late to try and cool it down?
Thanks for the response. This is my very first batch so I’m trying to at least make it drinkable.
Thanks for the tips
Thanks
The importance of temperature control occurs during the early stages of yeast activity. So it’s most important in the first 3-4 days. Many brewers will raise the temperature near the end of fermentation without the same issues that are created early on.
So… if temperature was in the 80’s during the the first several days or weeks, any abundant esters or fusel alcohols (solventy) are likely present.
Some yeast strains may be more sensitive than others, so it isn’t easy to say in absolute terms what you may find.
It’s a great learning opportunity as opposed to thinking of it like a mistake or failure. See what you think and try controlling the temps in the next batch and see if you like it better.
Welcome to the obsession. Er… hobby.
Thanks, I always have a backup in the garage fridge anyways.
Fellow Houstonian homebrewer here.
I have tried the tub ‘n’ towel, and ice, and fan, etc. The humidity in Houston is just too high to make the evaporative cooler work sufficiently - unless, you keep your house AC in the mid-60s. We had one of the hottest and dryest Junes on record this year, and the towel only brought temps down by about 6 degrees F.
If you have the time and attention to manage with a tub of water and ice, then that would probably work - I did not have the time. I reached a point where my freezer couldn’t make ice fast enough to keep up, and so I resorted to buying ice - just brings up the cost per pour (for me, to commercial beer prices, and my beer still tasted terrible).
I was ONLY able to get fermentation temperatures under control by picking up a scratch-and-dent chest freezer from Lowe’s and controlling temperatures in it with a temperature controller. I have brewed 17 batches in all, at this point - only the last three were temperature controlled in the chest freezer, and the last three are actually good, FINALLY!!
TL:DR: all previous repliers are 100% correct in writing that fermentation temperature is paramount, but all folks this deep in the country’s armpit that I’ve talked with use a fridge or freezer - folks about the Great Lakes and New England and the Rockies just don’t get it.
Get a refrigerator or chest freezer and a temperature controller.
Thanks for the input. What temperature do you keep the deep freezer at?
Look for a single stage temp controller, most online brew supplies have them. Controller plugs into wall, freezer plugs into controller. A temp sensor goes inside the freezer, usually taped to the fermenter. Then you set the controller to the temp you want. If the temp rises above that the controller turns on the freezer, and turns it off if it drops below that temp.
I use a dual stage controller, one side for freezer one side for heat source. But if you live in Huston you already have a natural heat source
Perfect thank you so much for your input
Not a problem
I’m still learning how to use it properly, but my three batches in it were as follows:
NOTES: The probe for temperature controller (TC) hangs in air in freezer.
Fermentation temps (FT) were monitored with a thermometer strip on the side of the fermentors.
Batches 1 and 2 used WLP001 yeast and batch 3 used WLP300.
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TC set to 63 F, FT reached a max of 68 F. OG for that batch was 1.067. After two weeks, raised TC to 70 F for 4 days, then cold crashed to 33 F for one week before kegging.
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TC set to 63 F, FT reached a max of 69 F. OG for batch was 1.069. After one week, raised TC to 70 F for 4 days, then cold crashed to 33 F for one week before kegging.
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TC set to 60 F, FT reached a max of 70 F. After one week, when FT dropped down to 63 F, raised TC to 70 for 4 days before kegging (wheat beer - no cold crash)
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A quick side note, to address commentary before it begins: I do not place the TC temperature probe into a thermowell in the fermentor, nor do I insulate and affix it to the side of the fermentor. If the beer needs to ferment cooler, then I’ll lower the ambient temp.
I have pretty much the same thoughts. I brewed in Dallas for nine years before moving this summer to Denver. Evaporative cooling doesn’t work in a humid environment like Dallas or Houston. By comparison, my entire house is cooled by an evaporative cooler. I don’t have AC which would be unthinkable in Texas.
I also tried the ice bath method for a few years. That was an ok approach if I had enough ice and I was home enough to add ice periodically through the day. Fine for small batches when I was in school and working from home after. If I went into the office for the day the beer went into the mid-70s. I think somebody else pointed out that you only need to really control temperatures the first few days. You might be able to get away with the ice method if you plan your brews around weekends when you’ll be home a lot so you can brew Friday night and monitor temperatures over the weekend. Not ideal but better than the status quo.
I ended up buying an old dorm-size fridge from craigslist that’s fairly old so it’s a little larger than newer ones. It’s hooked to a temperature controller and the quality of my beer improved remarkably just by making that one change. Chest freezers are good options because you can fit multiple fermenters and kegs in one space. Before buying a freezer/fridge I would suggest thinking first about what kind of larger fermenters you intend to use to make sure the freezer/fridge will accommodate the size.
Your other option to make a good beer is to brew Belgian beers. The yeast strains will accommodate warmer temperatures. You can ferment some of the saison strains into the 80s and 90s. Start those beers off with an ice bath the first day or two of fermentation to get the temperature in the mid-60s and then let it free rise to ambient temperatures.
Another option for reducing the impact of a warm climate and the need for fermentation cooling is to employ Kviek yeast. I was just introduced to those yeasts and they do appear to eliminate fusel alcohol production even when fermented very warm. The drawback is that those yeast produce very fruity esters. That might not be a drawback in some styles, but could be in others. I am impressed.
Here’s an alternative I used some 25 years ago, when I first wanted to try lagers, but all I had to work with was Ohio basement temperature (still too warm really for even ales in the summer, but of course acceptable compared to Texas.)
I made a jacket for my carboy from fiberglass attic insulation wrapped in plastic cut from garbage bags and taped to exclude moisture. I similarly constructed a cap to plug the opening at the top and let the airlock poke out. I got a slew of those gel blocks you freeze and put in picnic coolers. Two sets. One set I tucked down in between the carboy and the jacket, the other was in the freezer. Morning and evening, I swapped out the gel blocks. As I recall, I was able to maintain ~50°F fermentation temperature, even lower for a brief “lagering” after exothermic fermentation had subsided. (For a D-rest, just remove the jacket and cover with a garbage bag for light protection.) I had set it on the basement floor, which is always going to be cooler than in Texas. But set the whole thing on a piece of Styrofoam insulation, and it might be adaptable to your needs and desired temperatures. The nice thing is it only needs attention every 12 hours, though it’s as crude as any of the evaporative methods mentioned.
Ultimately, the freezer and temperature controller is the answer wherever you are. Good luck and happy brewing!